Overturning Roe v. Wade Signals a Broader Regression on Human Rights

WASHINGTON D.C – With Chief Justice John Roberts’ confirming the authenticity of a leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, it is clear that the Supreme Court of the United States intends to limit human rights that Americans have counted on for two generations.

“For almost fifty years, Roe v. Wade has enshrined in law a fundamental human right – the right of women to choose what they can do with their bodies.  This draft majority opinion from the Supreme Court rips away that right, and the United States stands poised to join the company of a few countries where democracy has been faltering, like Poland and El Salvador, in enacting new restrictions on abortion,” said Michael Breen, CEO and President of Human Rights First. “The opinion is part of a rising tide of increasingly authoritarian actions around the world and signals a disturbing disregard of established legal precedents on which people in this country have relied to protect all our human rights.”

“The draft opinion is a step toward the abrogation of other rights based on the 14thAmendment’s rubric of privacy that Americans count on, from the right to contraception to marriage equality to protection from surveillance,” said Licha Nyiendo, Chief Legal Officer. “As an organization devoted to expanding and defending human rights, we see this opinion as a step in a very dangerous direction for everyone in the United States and a frightening signal to authoritarians around the world that they can strip long-established rights from their countries’ people.”